Moxibustion is an important invention of the Chinese nation, which originated as early as in the clan commune period of the primitive society. The literature records on moxibustion can be traced back to the Warring States Period (475 B.C. to 221 B.C.). Doctors through the ages made considerable progress and published a great number of books on moxibustion. Moxibustion has been applied in treating a great range of diseases. Since the 1950s, the treatment scope of moxibustion has been expanded, and the therapeutic methods of moxibustion are becoming increasingly rich and varied, and great progress in research on the mechanism of moxibustion has been made. Moxibustion was once popular in Europe after its dissemination to the West in the seventeenth century, and the practitioners invented some new methods of moxibustion. Japan is the country in the West where fruitful efforts have been made in research on moxibustion. In modern times, moxibustion has been used for health protection, and the scientists are paying great attention to the experimental research on moxibustion.

Key words: moxibustion, traditional medicine, review, history, current state